St. Paul daily globe., 1887-08-29
LOSSES IN LAND.
The System by Which Titles are
Guaranteed.

At SI2 South Fourth street, nearly OPP
pOSite the court house, is modest, un-
pretentious One-story brick building
whose exterior is scarcely noticeable
except the large gilt sign upon its front,
yet a glance at its interior presents
most interesting sight. You behold in
Vulnerable large books scattered about
on long tables, over which is an army OF
young ladies and men writing, checking
and comparing. Beyond them are two
rOomy, fire proof vaults, with a myriad
of tin boxes lining the shelves, all num-
bered and lettered in neat style.
Silence prevails among the EN-
plOyes, and one can hear only
the ticking of the clock and the short,
sharp scratch of the pen. You wonder
where you are and what this small army
is doing. This is the abstract Office of
the Minnesota Title Insurance and
Trust cOmpan yet there is a Signifi-
cance in the name and far more in the
work it performs. 1t is the first organi-
Zation of the kind that was established
west of Philadelphia, and its existence
only dates back to September, 1885.
The public is familiar with all other
kinds of insurance, but an insurance of
titles is something never before heard
of by nine-tenths of our people.
w ildO 10 IL! you Sdys why, IL ID
simply body of Minneapolis repre-
sentative business men who have
organized themselves into a corporate
body with a capital of S500.000 to insure
titles to real estate and guarantee to in
demnify the purchaser or MORTGAGE
against loss arising through defects of
title, and it is the only tangible and abSO-
lutte guaranty known. "But how do
they do thiS?" is asked. As required by
law, a permanent deposit of 5000 is
kept with the state auditor as guar
anty fund for the perpetual protection
of pOlicy-holders, and as the stock
holders are liable for double the amount
of their stock, it is plain to be seen that
the liability of the company is round
million dollars. ''What is the method
of the company?" Why, simply this:
Since March, 1926, trained abstracters
have been at work upon the public rec
ODDS. A full and varified digest has
been made of the records of the registry,
probate, district and United States
courts. Each instrument or court case
is distracted upon its own sheet, posted
to the several tracts of land it affects,
and its sheet is then put in box cor
responding in number or letter with
its book or file in the public offices, in
stead of being made up into bound
volumes. Upon the posting books,
known as tract indexes or ledgers, is
kept a separate account with each parcel
of land in Hennepin county, the same
as a merchant keeps a ledger account
wit customer. When an abstract is
made one turns to the appropriate
ledger page and finds references to
the book, page and official number of
every instrument and court case in any
manner affecting the parcel in question.
1t is then the simplest of manual effort
to gOtO the boxes and take out the
sheets required to make up the abstract.
The legal examination having been
made, the result is permanently regis
tered and the sheets are distributed to
their respective places in the boxes,
some of them perhaps being used the
next hour in another title. A second
or subsequent search of the same or
corresponding title is made from the
time of the register of the first final de-
termination, so that the company need
never go over the same work
second time. The maps. charts
and plans are peculiar to the
system adopted and appear to be most
exhaustive in kind. If you want to i'll
sure your title you give this company a
description of your land and they will
examine the records and if found salts
factory will at once issue policy of in
surance for a nominal sum and guaran-
tee to protect and defend your title for
the period of twenty-five years, but if
insurance is refused by the company
no charge is made for the examination.
The safeguard which this company
throws around the policy holder is
Oftentimes of paramount Importance as
has been proven in the past. II
The company has expended in its
plant some 100000 and the end is not
yet, while the board of directors and
Offic ers are many of Minneapolis most
prOminent and wealthy men.